Flood Barrier USA

Flooding in Thailand Impacts Manufacturing Supply Chain

Author: Flood Expert Donna Conneely

The monsoon season is an annual event in Southeast Asia, one that has been a part of life for centuries in these regions. The yearly flooding brings both good and bad results — alluvial soils deposited by the floods enrich the farmlands, but the waters also inflict loss of life and infrastructural devastation.

In the year 2011, the floods in Thailand have been epic in proportion. It is almost five months since the major floods began in this country, with no end in sight. More than 500 people have lost their lives, millions of people are left without shelter, and more than 1000 factories have been closed or destroyed. The damage is estimated to be in the range of $5 billion, in what is being called the worst flooding in history.

Major industrial parks have been inundated for more than a month, affecting the supply chain for factories around the world. For example, factories in Thailand produce 25% of hard drives used around the world to make computers. The domino effect of flooding in Thailand is therefore being felt around the world, impacting an already vulnerable economic environment.

Given the importance of these factories and industrial parks, questions regarding preparation and flood prevention have arisen. In a place where floods are predictable and inevitable, why were measures not taken to protect these vital areas? The answer is that measures were taken, but they failed for a variety of reasons.

Flood barriers in place around the factories were simply not strong enough or high enough to withstand the enormously strong currents that sent debris, cars, and huge trees crashing into the barriers. The flood barriers in this region were mostly sandbag levees and earthen defenses that were quickly washed away. In Bangkok, home of many of the affected factories, flood levels exceeded ten feet, and this massive pressure was exacerbated by the huge amount of debris carried along in the water.

Although this devastating flooding may seem to be beyond human control, it can in fact be ameliorated. Modern flood panels are now capable of withstanding the pressures of the 2011 Thailand floods, even considering the battering by the debris. With global warming bringing increasingly vicious monsoons, factories and businesses will be looking to invest in more robust flood protection, including automatic flood panels that can take the type of beating that closed down manufacturing this year.

Companies like Toshiba and Dell can afford to install effective modern flood barriers on their buildings, and possibly even around the villages where factory workers live. This would protect their workers and keep them productive — a perfect opportunity for a public-private partnership where everybody wins.

This entry was posted on Monday, December 5th, 2011 at 11:58 am and is filed under Flood Protection. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.